


Accidental Scientist

by Carlyn (Carlyn7865)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 16:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4270788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carlyn7865/pseuds/Carlyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a reason Jack hates scientists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Accidental Scientist

Jack moved slowly into the clearing, P-90 at the ready, and critically surveyed the odd assortment of mud-daubed stone dwellings. “Well, that was way too many miles travelled for nothing," he grumbled. 

“Let’s not be hasty, Jack,” Daniel advised. Moving to Jack's left, he lifted a hand in greeting to the half dozen women and children at a well in the center of the village. “Remember we thought the Nox were primitive.”

“Sir, the aerial survey showed evidence of a sizeable mining operation,” Samantha Carter reminded him.

“A mine we passed nearly five kilometers back.”

“These villagers wouldn’t have to be technologically advanced to work that mine. We had to come here and ask before we go poking around in there."

"Yeah, yeah," Jack conceded. “Carter, lead the way.”

More villagers gathered at the well. None of them seemed wary, though, from their perspective, the green clad strangers emerging from the thick tangle of surrounding forest must have appeared like ghosts materializing out of a fog.

“It seems they are accustomed to guests,” Teal’c observed.

One of the women nudged a small boy, who shot off to a large structure, twice the size of all the others. The boy returned, gesturing excitedly to entice along a doddering, stooped little man. They reached the crowd as SG-1 approached.

With a nod from Jack, Daniel took a step forward. “Hello, my name is Daniel Jackson.”

The old guy perked up a bit at the sound, grunting a few words in return.

“That sounds like a variant of Danish,” Daniel announced. 

“You speak Danish?”

“Some important works in Norse mythology are recorded in Danish, Jack,” Daniel replied, clearly believing he’d answered the question. He segued smoothly into that language and continued the dialogue. 

Jack waited just until Daniel acknowledged that they had permission to look around before directing Teal’c to the far end of the village for a perimeter check. Leaving Carter and Daniel to talk with the natives about their interest in visiting the mine, he headed down the mud path that passed for the main street. 

His heart beating in time with his measured steps, he strolled along. To the uninitiated, his interest in the village and its inhabitants appeared casual, but Jack scrutinized everything with an eye towards threat assessment. At the end of the path he relaxed his defensive posture, experience telling him the vigilance was unwarranted.

It didn’t take an anthropology degree to determine that these folks lived a simple life. Their homes were built of uncut stone held together with mud-based cement. Peeking in through an open window, he spied crudely built furnishings. Their clothing was rough homespun, worn long and washed little, if the lingering stench of stale sweat was any indication. 

A couple of the villagers offered their hands in greeting and Jack took note of the audible rasp of calloused skin against his own. Their grips revealed hands work-roughened from fingertips to the base of the palm. 

All the evidence pointed to the fact that these people subsisted on manual labor – dirt farming, stone masonry and crude carpentry. And mining. But, if there was naquadah or trinium in those mines, they weren’t making use of it themselves and they sure weren’t selling it for technology.

He noted with an oddly giddy sense of relief that there was also no indication that they were intellectually developed. Nothing in the village resembled a school or a library. There were no books or squiggle-lined obelisks, not the slightest hint that the inhabitants even knew what writing was. Nothing to make Daniel insist that they remain here for endless hours while he studied their history.

~oOo~

In retrospect, he should have been more surprised. Returning from his brief sojourn, he’d found Daniel, straining at the leash Carter had been ordered to keep him on, spouting a rapid-fire succession of phrases like “It’s just on the other side of the village” and “I think we’ve got to check it out.” Not that Carter was an effective handler; she was nearly as excited as Daniel. 

Of course there was a temple tucked away in the woods. Isn’t there always? At least they didn’t have to waste time going through the entire structure. Entering the first dark room on the right they found enough to focus the attention of both his scientists. Sending Teal’c to check the surrounding area, Jack did a quick search of the other rooms and settled in to watch them work.

“Carter, is that really a good idea?”

He flicked his wrist, the hand rotating loosely to encompass his 2IC, her laptop, the stone altar on which it sat, and the large, glaringly out-of-place, light-encrusted metal tower beyond her. He shifted his gaze to Daniel, who stood back and perused the lines of small blocky figures etched into the wall of the building, just to the right of the incongruous technology.

Carter jerked her eyes from the length of USB cable she uncurled from her backpack. “Sir, we’ve successfully interfaced our equipment with alien devices before. This,” she dipped her blond bob towards the tower, “appears to be some sort of computer terminal or at the very least a source of power.”

O’Neill grunted concession. He resisted the urge to slam his head into the stone wall he’d been resting against for the past hour, shifted his leg to quiet a twinge of pain in his left knee, and waited. 

He’d been doing far too much of that lately, since their main objective had become locating the Lost City of the Ancients. He waited for Daniel to track down clues from stone tablets and obelisks discovered off-world. Then, once the research suggested a destination, he waited while Daniel did some more reading – in old libraries, ancient ruins and crumbling temples – for a sign that directed them forward. 

At least this mission had been about something other than finding the Lost City. 

Still, here he sat, stiff-kneed and numb-butted, against the wall of a temple, waiting once again for Daniel – and now Carter – to complete their inquiries. 

Jack sighed. When had SG-1 become the Daniel and Carter show? He was starting to feel a bit superfluous; they hadn’t really needed him much these last few mission. Once he secured the work area, he ceased to be part of the action.

“Jack.” 

The quasi-urgent utterance of his name brought O’Neill out of his bitter musings. As he looked up, Daniel slipped off his glasses and practically pressed his face against the stone wall in front of him. It looked like the linguist had found something on this planet to read after all.

“These are Norse runes. The Asgard must have been here. That would explain why the language of those villagers has a Scandinavian root.”

“And would explain why they seem not to have fallen victim to the Goa’uld,” Carter added. As she spoke, she spun her laptop around and pushed the USB connector into one of the ports. 

Jack dragged himself from the floor to examine the tower from a different angle. “This doesn’t look like Asgard technology to me,” he observed dryly.

“No, it doesn’t,” Carter seconded.

Daniel stared at the inscription, his mouth pursed softly in annoyance. “Well, there’s nothing in this text to indicate who the technology belongs to or why it’s here.” 

“The easiest way to answer those questions is to see if we can get it to communicate with my computer,” Carter said brightly, tapping a few keys on her laptop

Jack slid back to the floor with a harried groan. “I suppose it’s too much to hope it took a Berlitz course.” 

“Hang on, Sam.” Stepping back from the wall, Daniel reached for his notebook. “There’s something odd about this script.”

On his feet again, Jack gripped his P-90 and moved closer. “What?”

Daniel began scribbling furiously. “Part of it’s been written over, I think.”

“Why would—”

The room exploded with light and sound. The tower flashed angrily and set up a warning screech. Carter’s laptop joined in high pitched duet.

“Carter, disconnect that damn thing, now!” Jack bellowed above the din.

She reached for the USB cable, jumping back as the laptop began to vibrate, its hard plastic casing clattering raucously against the stone altar.

“Carter!”

The laptop popped, a small burst of electricity catapulting it from the altar. It executed a somersault worthy of a gold-medaled gymnast, but Jack had no time to appreciate the move. The computer tumbled his way, the tower lights glinting from its reflective black surface. His head exploded in pain and the lights morphed into stars just before his world went completely dark.

~oOo~

Jack let out a low groan, his forehead bunching against the dull ache behind his eyes.

“Jack?” The great relief in Daniel’s hail gave it a breathy quality.

Prizing his eyes open, Jack immediately noted the change in scenery. “What happened?” he muttered, squeezing his eyes against the too-bright infirmary lights.

“Um, there was a power surge from the tower. It shot Sam’s laptop from the altar and it sort of clipped your head.” In demonstration, Daniel skimmed his palm over the area just above his left eyebrow. He grinned vaguely. “I’ve had a chance to review that anomaly in the Asgard inscription. The writing itself was a message of greeting—” 

“Daniel,” Jack grunted, gesturing to his injured head.

“Right. Sorry. There was a warning hidden within the message against tampering with the technology without the proper clearance.” 

Wincing, Jack grumbled, “Why the hell would someone hide a warning?” 

Daniel considered the question for a second. “Well, it would only be a guess, but it seems apparent that whoever put the tower there is somehow allied with the Asgard. Otherwise why warn them against interfering with it. They probably never expected anyone but the Asgard  
to—”

“I thought I heard voices.” Cutting off Daniel’s exposition, Carter rushed through the doorway, Teal’c right on her heels. “Sir, you’re awake.”

“As it turns out, Carter, I am,” Jack smirked. “Though, I suspect not even my unconsciousness would keep Daniel from talking to me.”

“It is good to see you are on the mend, O’Neill.”

“How do you feel?” Carter queried. “Janet said you’ve got a concussion, but she expects you to make a full recovery.”

“Good thing you have a hard head,” Daniel dropped in under his breath.

Jack shot him a snarky glare. “My head hurts, but it’s not the first time one of you has given me a headache. Do me a favor, though, would you?”

Carter perched on her toes, ready to accede to any demand. “Of course, sir, if I can.”

“It’s bad enough I have to endure the scientific explanations.” Gingerly rubbing his temple, he squirmed into his pillows and closed his eyes. “How about, next time, leave me out of your experiments.”


End file.
